A half-brother of the three Levetts was Adam Ashburnham, son of Joane (Adams) Levett Ashburnham, and her second husband Lawrence Ashburnham, whom she married after the early death of John Levett of Hollington.[1]Adam Ashburnham was MP for Winchelsea.
In the same year, 1539, a document from the court of King Henry VIII notes that parson Levett, clearly no ordinary vicar, was attended by two servants. [2]
The sums being expended by the Crown on Levett's products added up. In the month of August 1545, for instance, the Privy Council authorized the expenditure of £200 to "Wm. Levett, parson of Buckstedde, for iron pieces and shot."[5] During the proceeding month, July 1545, the Privy Council authorized a "Letter to Parson Levett to send hither 300 cannon shot, 200 culverin shot, 300 saker shot, and 300 fawcon shot, or as many as he had ready."[6] The Crown was quickly discovering the meaning of 'military-industrial complex'.
